Santorini Vacation – A Once in a Lifetime Experience

One of the best places to spend the summer vacations in is the island of Santorini, Greece. Last summer my girlfriend Katerina and I spent time in Fira and Oia in Santorini.

Katerina and I in Santorini, August 2016

Fira is the modern capital of Santorini. It is located at an altitude of over 200 metres. While in Fira, on the eastern side of the famous Santorini Caldera, we were fortunate to have a view of the Caldera from our hotel balcony. This capital is well spread above several high cliffs.

The Santorini Caldera is arguably a natural wonder of the world. The scenery just made our heart melt. It was amazingly beautiful. The Caldera is one of those views that the human mind cannot get enough of.

Oia is a fascinating town situated at the northern side of the Caldera. While in Fira you can have a view of Oia. Oia has a number of hotels and restaurants that are ideally located on rocky peninsulas which provide breath-taking views of the Caldera. The sun light hours in Oia are much longer than in the capital Fira.

Oia, SantoriniOia, SantoriniOia, SantoriniOia, Santorini

The main Santorini port is below the cliff. Tourists arriving at the port, have a chance to ride a donkey. From Fira we took the Santorini Cable Car. We had an unforgettable experience as we went down to the port through the cable car. We had a spectacular view of the capital and also saw the tourists who were on donkey rides going up to the summit. The feeling that we had on that cable car as we were coming down was awesome. The island looked picture-perfect from that point.

My girlfriend and I took a boat and set sail to the famous red beach. The red beach is among the most beautiful and most famous in Santorini. The red beach has this unique and amazing landscape of red and black volcanic rocks and a fascinating landscape that gets imprinted into your brain. The red beach is so beautiful that even people who do not like boat rides actually forget about their fear of boats, because they are all in awe of the view. Seeing the unique rocks of the red beach was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Santorini Sailing

The boat ride also passed by the white beach, which is basically a tiny beach. It is white pebbled and surrounded by towering cliffs which are also white. These cliffs form a spectacular, small cove that provides partial shade. It is also made up of grey volcanic sands, pumice stones and pebbles. The waters are very inviting and crystal clear. There were no facilities surrounding this beach. Because of its nature it is not as popular as the red beach. It seemed quiet and isolated. The white beach appeared like it would be good for snorkeling. It is also difficult to access it so this means it isn’t meant for everyone. It seemed like a good destination for the kind of people who love and appreciate adventures.

Seeing the famous red beach, the Caldera and all the beautiful sceneries in the Island of Santorini; we genuinely thought we had already experienced the best Santorini had to offer. But then we had a private sunset sailing with my girlfriend. This was simply the highlight of our trip.

Various operators organize romantic private and yacht excursions around the entire Caldera bay. The boat was beautiful, clean and crisp white. The nets at the front were a nice touch as you could see the sea under you as it sailed. There was a great meal on board, along with unlimited drinks and the crew and company were amazing.

Santorini SailingSantorini Sailing

The therapeutic waters of the hot springs and the glorious Oia sunset changed the entire mood of our private sail from spectacular to romantic. It was the most romantic yacht sailing tour that I have ever experienced in my life and a wonderful way to end a very awesome day. This is simply an experience not to be missed.

The entire experience in this Greek Island is definitely priceless. It is a vibrant place with a lot of things to do and a lot of places to visit. For all the trips that I have made in my life, this was one at a whole new level. Every experience was breath-taking. Santorini is such a unique place that once you visit it, you will have an amazing experience that you will never forget.